Welcome

Welcome to the South East Kelowna Irrigation District web site. For information about the district you can search this site by using the drop down menus on the menu bar above. Feel free to contact district staff by phone if you cannot find the information you are looking for or if you want additional information not posted on this site.

Regular office hours are from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM Monday to Friday. In the case of an emergency, on-call staff can be contacted 24 hours a day by calling 861-4200.

The District is currently under a Precationary Boil Water Notice. For more information, follow this link: News Release.

Notice of Trustee Appointments

There are three Trustee positions available in 2012: Two three (3) year terms and one two (2) year term. Nominations to the Board closed at 4:00 PM Friday, May 18, 2012. At that time we had recieved nominations from three candidates: John Christie, Doug Owram and Brian Wright.

I hereby declare all three candidates aclaimed to the position of Trustee of the South East Kelowna Irrigation District effective at 4:00 PM May 18, 2012. The terms of each Trustee will be decided at the first meeting of the new Board of Trustees, the time and date of which will be called shortly.

Chief Election Officer.

Spring & Summer Newsletter 2012

The much anticipated Spring & Summer Newsletter is now in the mail and on the way to all Landowners in the District. Can't wait to catch up on the latest District news? Click here and download your online version. Follow this link for past editions of the news letter: News Archive.

PRECAUTIONARY BOIL WATER NOTICE

The South East Kelowna Irrigation District has issued a PRECAUTIONARY BOIL WATER NOTICE for users on the surface water system. The order is effective immediately and remains in effect until further notice. This order does not include residents in the Hall Road area who receive well water.

Why has this notice been issued?

The Boil Water Notice is required due to increased turbidity in source water from Hydraulic Creek. The melting snow at the lower elevations has increased flow at the District intake causing the turbidity to increase above an average of 5 NTUs for the past 24 hour period.

What should the public do?

During a boil water notice, tap water used for drinking, brushing teeth, or rinsing ready-to-eat-foods should be brought to a rolling boil for one minute.

 “Owners of all public facilities must post Boil Water Notices at all sinks or drinking water fountains accessible to the public (alternatively, public fountains and taps may be turned off). As opportunities arise, they must also advise their clientele verbally of the Boil Water Order.”

Interior Health has been consulted and is fully involved in this notification. The South East Kelowna Irrigation District apologizes for any inconvenience this notification might cause our customers and appreciate your cooperation and patience during this time. The length of time the Boil Water Notice will be in effect is unknown at this time, but turbidity will likely trend lower towards the middle of May. The public will be notified when conditions allow the Boil Water Notice to be rescinded.

Kelowna residents unsure of who their water supplier is can get this information by going to www.kjwc.org and using the “who is my water supplier” tool.

Domestic Water Regulations in Effect

We are now into the second year of the odd/even system for watering based on date and property address. This system was adopted to be consistent with the other water suppliers in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan. Using common sprinkling times provides efficiencies in administering water use programs and presents opportunities for sharing information and educational materials over a broader audience.

Regulations governing agricultural irrigation are also in effect throughout the District. All landowners with metered irrigation services have received notice by mail of the 2012 irrigation allotment.

                                       

WATERING TIMES

1)     Sprinkling is permitted on an odd/even basis depending on your address:

• Odd numbered units or street addresses are restricted to watering on odd numbered dates.
• Even numbered units or street addresses are restricted to watering on even numbered dates

Underground sprinkler systems may only be operated on permitted watering days between the hours of 12:00 midnight to 6:00 AM and not to exceed 30 minutes per zone.

Above ground sprinklers and watering by hose is only allowed on permitted watering days between the hours of 6:00 AM and 10:00 AM and between 6:00 PM and Midnight.

If you run underground sprinklers on your permitted watering day you may not run above ground sprinklers on that same day.

 

2)  Watering by hand with a nozzle to control water flow and washing cars with a nozzle to control           water flow is permitted any day.

Staff will be monitoring compliance over the course of the summer and any property found watering outside the allowed times will be given a door tag providing the correct schedule. 

 

Repeated offences are in violation of District Bylaws and may result in disconnection of water service and a $50.00 reconnection charge for each violation. The District appreciates all efforts to work together to reduce consumption and to use water wisely.

 

Irrigation Season Starts May 1, 2012

The start of another irrigation season begins officially May 1st. It is expected the Board of Trustees will approve the standard water allocation for the season and allotment letters will be mailed after the next Board meeting April 19th.

District staff are currently turning on irrigation services to properties by special request only. Those landowners needing water for horticultural (spraying, etc.), irrigation system maintenance or other non-irrigation purposes can stop by the office and complete a Special Irrigation Application Form.

Kelowna Integrated Water Supply Plan

The five major water suppliers serving the City of Kelowna entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a comprehensive integrated water supply plan to determine the best lowest cost solution to providing Kelowna with a safe, reliable water supply over the next 20 to 50 years. Partners in the MOU include Black Mountain Irrigation District, City of Kelowna, Glenmore-Ellison Improvement District, Rutland Waterworks and South East Kelowna Irrigation District. For more information about the MOU, please call the SEKID office. A copy of the MOU can be viewed by following this link: MOU.

After over fourteen months of work by the Kelowna Joint Water Committee Technical Committee, the Kelowna Integrated Water Supply Plan final draft has been presented to the province, Interior Health and the elected representatives of the five participating water utlities for review and comment. We expect the Final Report will be ready for adoption early in 2012.

SEKID Demand Characterization

As part of the work underway on the Kelowna Integrated Water Supply Plan (see story above) the District has completed a detailed analysis of water use by user group. As you might expect, agricultural irrigation uses the most water in an average year at over 78% of our total annual water use. The following table and graph break down annual water use by all groups in the District:

 

Seasonal demand refers to outdoor water use. In the case of single family lots the seasonal demand is actually higher than the base, or indoor water use. Clearly the greatest opportunity to reduce water use for residential customers is more efficient outdoor water use.

Automatic Withdrawal Payment Option

Water Supply and Treatment

Cost/Benefit Review Study Online

Water Supply and Treatment: Summary Report - November 2007. In a follow up to our May 2006 water treatment pilot study, this comprehensive report by Associated Engineering evaluates eight options for improving the District's water quality. The Summary Report provides the highlights, conclusions and recommendations of this work, while the detailed technical analysis in support of the summary can be found in three Technical Memorandum Reports: Tech Memo 1, Tech Memo 2 and Tech Memo 3, along with a Hyrdogeological Report conducted by Golder and Associates.